About the Liturgy

About the site

This page is not aimed at priests and religious who have an obligation
to recite the Office. It is aimed at the laity who want to acquire this good
and beneficial habit.

How to recite the Hours

There are nine-and-sixty ways of constructing tribal lays,
And every single one of them is right!

RUDYARD KIPLING

This is an informal summary of the General Instruction on the
Liturgy of the Hours. The full text can be found in most breviaries (at the
start of Vol. 1 of multi-volume sets).

In contrast with the Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours is relatively free in
its specification of how things should be done. The texts, psalms, and prayers
are the important things, and after that, many variations are allowed according
to local circumstances and tradition.

Bodily posture

The General Instruction concerns itself with public celebration of the Divine
Office. In private recitation you should adopt whatever posture seems reasonable
and appropriate. Similarly, in recitation within a small group (such as a
family) the aim is to assist the devotional aspect of the Office and not to
cause a distraction-- frequently, an unvarying posture (standing or sitting)
is best. For your information, however, here is a brief summary of what happens
in a public celebration:

All stand during the introduction to the Office and during the opening
hymn (if there is one: this site does not contain them).

All sit during the readings (except Gospel readings).

All stand during the Magnificat, Benedictus, or Nunc Dimittis, and during
the concluding prayers.

During the psalms, people may sit or stand, according to local custom.

All cross themselves at the start of each Hour and at the start of the
Magnificat, Benedictus, or Nunc Dimittis.

Reciting the psalms

Each psalm in the Divine Office has a title, which is not intended to be
read out, but which helps in the understanding of its significance.

Each psalm is also given an antiphon. The antiphon may be
said once, at the beginning of the psalm; or once at the beginning and once
at the end (after the Glory Be). The Invitatory Psalm can additionally have
the antiphon repeated after every verse of the psalm. Which of these methods
is chosen is up to whoever is organizing the recitation: if you are doing
it on your own, then you have to choose for yourself.

In a celebration of the Hours by more than one person, it is also possible
to alternate the verses, between two choirs or two parts of the congregation.
In this case it is probably less appropriate to insert the antiphon after
every verse.

When a longer psalm has been split into parts, each part
can be treated as a separate psalm, or the parts can be united into a single,
longer psalm, with the Glory Be said only once, at the very end.

Readings

Lauds and Vespers have short Biblical readings. It is always permissible
to substitute appropriate longer readings for these: for instance, the Mass
reading of the day.

Responsories

Responsories follow readings in the Liturgy, and help to meditate on the
significance of those readings. In individual recitation, the repeated part
of the responsory can be omitted, unless the meaning demands that it be kept.

Prayers and intercessions

These start with an introduction and a short response, and there then follow
a number of intentions, each of which is in two halves. Here are the
two methods recommended by the General Instruction:

The priest or minister says the introduction and the people give the response.
Then the priest says both halves of each intention and the people repeat
the response.

The priest or minister says the introduction and the people give the response.
Then the priest says the first half of each intention and the people say
the second half (the response is not repeated every time).

When reciting the Office on your own, choose whatever is most comfortable.
The second method usually works better.

It is permissible to add special intentions at Morning Prayer and at Evening
Prayer.

Universalis uses a translation of the Roman Breviary, but individual Episcopal
Conferences usually modify the prayers and intercessions quite extensively.

The Office of Readings

This may be said at any time - even after Vespers of the previous night.
It helps, though, to try to say it at a regular time each day.

Joining different Offices together

Where circumstances require it, the public celebration of a particular Hour
may be merged with the Mass, or with another Hour. The rules for doing this
are rather complicated, and can be found in the General Instruction referred
to at the start of this page.